A Puffin for Your Thoughts
by Sasu-Cakes137
Summary: Another fluffy oneshot. Iceland/Land of Fire aka Emil/Sakura.


**STORY UPDATES: After this I'll be posting two more Hetalia crossovers (one of them is going to be super-long. Right now it's over 5,000 words) then a chapter of _Ikebukuro Nights, _before doing one more Hetalia crossover, because I promised some people I'd write a specific pairing. I'm hoping to get everything up by Christmas, so wish me luck! _My Heart_ is going to be pushed to the side as I work on my newest projects, but I'll keep it unfinished in case I ever get inspiration for it again.**

**OK, I just love coming up with cheesy titles. I think mine are the lamest things ever, but they're becoming sort of my trademark. **

**Standard disclaimers apply. Translations on the bottom.**

* * *

Sakura's pen scribbled furiously across the pristine white paper spread in front of her. Red ink flowed across sentences of black text as she crossed them out mercilessly. The margins of the page were filled with various notes and comments written in neat_ kanji_. Her eyes swept across this year's budget with keen sharpness.

"Wait,_ how_ much to they want to go to foreign policy? I don't think so, a third would suffice." A bright X was slashed across the statement. "Now let's move thirteen percent over to the agricultural department, eleven percent to the military- my boys and girls deserve a raise this year!-. Eight percent to…"

The pinkette was so engrossed in her calculations that she didn't notice when the strange looking, black bird landed on the table less than a foot away from her arm. She almost let out a shocked squeak and impaled it with her pen when it gently poked her hand. A startled squawk sounded from its large orange beak at her actions (it was only an inch away from becoming a bird-kabob!).

"_Kuso_, that was a close one." The writing implement dropped from her tight grip and she let out a relieved sigh. "Ah _gomen_, little guy! You surprised me there." She reached out to comfort the creature, who was still puffed up in shock. "And I should tell you that that is a _really_ bad idea, you're a lucky little…um,"

She looked the animal over, trying to figure out exactly _what_ it was. It's all black body and white face seemed oddly familiar to Sakura, but she couldn't quite figure out where she had seen it before.

"Well, whatever you are, you're pretty lucky. It would have been a shame to hurt such a cutie."

The bird perked up at her statement and waddled to her arms. Sakura scooped it into her embrace gleefully and began to stroke its soft feathers. She fingered the pink bowtie around its neck.

"Now who do you belong to? I know I've seen you around somewhere." The avian only snuggled itself more closely to her chest in response to her inquiry. A delighted giggled escaped her lips. Her paperwork lay forgotten as she allowed herself a few moments to caress the warm creature in her grasp. "Ah, _totemo kawaii desu_!"

* * *

"Mr. Puffin, where are you?" Emil called out into the empty hallway stretched before him. The bird had flown off an hour ago and he was having a hell of a time searching for him through the deserted halls of the U.N. "_Fjandinn fuglinn_…" He muttered under his breath. He could feel a headache coming on. He was about ready to quit his search and leaving the troublesome animal locked in the building for the overnight as punishment for disappearing, when faint feminine laughter floated out from a conference room not too far from his position.

Emil quietly crept towards the sound and peeked through the window on the door. There, was Mr. Puffin resting in the arms of… He hastily retracted his face from the glass as a small blush bled across his cheeks. Sakura Haruno. Oh _Guð_, out of all the countries in the world, why did it have to be _her _that found Mr. Puffin. His heart rate quickened as he thought of the pink haired girl- no, she wasn't a girl, she was a _woman_; a gorgeous, intelligent, passionate, woman.

And that woman would probably never be interested in someone like him. Compared to her, Emil was just a child. A stupid, love struck, kid that had never even talked to the girl of his dreams before, only watched from afar as she interacted with their fellow nations with confidence and grace. He still got butterflies in his stomach when he thought about the moment he fell for her; the day she sent Mathias flying back twenty feet with a singled punch because he groped her.

But maybe -he snuck a swift peek through the window pane again-, maybe this was his chance to have an actual conversation with her! This was the perfect opportunity. None of the other Scandinavian countries were there, so that meant he wouldn't have to worry about Lukas or anybody else teasing and embarrassing him. It would just be him and Sakura-and to some extent, Mr. Puffin, but Emil decided that he didn't really count since he wasn't a person- alone in a room. Together. Did he mention that they'd be alone?

Yes, today was the day that Emil Steilsson would finally speak to Sakura Haruno! He adjusted his brown military coat and forced all remnants of his embarrassment of his face. His expression fell back into its usual neutral form and he pulled his white gloves more snugly onto his hands.

He sucked in a calming breath in preparation of his nerve-wracking meeting. _'Here goes nothing…_'

* * *

The room grew silent as Emil awkwardly stepped in. Sakura looked up from tickling the bird sitting on her lap and glanced to the boy standing in the doorway. Emil did his best not to wilt under her inquisitive green eyes. Mr. Puffin jumped up from his perch and flew over to the silver-haired boy's shoulder.

"Yo Emil, ain't that the dame you've got your eyes on?" He asked loudly as he landed, "She's a real feisty one; you better make your move on her before I do."

The boy sent his pet a glare at his topic of conversation, but he knew that Sakura wouldn't be able to decipher his squawking-something he was eternally grateful for.

"_þegja_." He whispered under his breath.

"Oh, hello Iceland-san, so that bird is yours then? I _knew_ he looked familiar." Sakura questioned as she stood and brushed the lint off of her skirt. She was still in the outfit she wore at the world meeting earlier that day- a tight, black pencil skirt, sleeveless red blouse and matching crimson pumps.

"Ah, yes, this is Mr. Puffin. Thank you for keeping an eye on him for me, Miss Fire." Emil struggled to keep his gaze from drifting down to her shapely thighs encased in dark fabric. _'Keep cool, focus on the conversation.'_ "I hope he didn't cause you too much trouble." Was the room getting hot, or was it just him?

"Oh no, he is such a sweetheart." The pinkette stepped forward to scratch the bird's head. "And so adorable too, I wish I had a pet." She let out a wistful sigh and grinned at the other country. "Besides, I needed a break anyways. I was up to my neck in revisions and he was the perfect distraction."

"Emil, marry this woman," Mr. Puffin cooed in pleasure, leaning in to her touch. "She has magic hands. Oh, yeah that's the spot. I bet I wouldn't be the only one to benefit from that arrangement either, if you know what I mean."

Unfortunately, Mr. Puffin's owner _did_, in fact know what he meant. It took all of his will power to stop himself from flushing at the implication. He let out a small cough to mask his almost-slip in composure.

"_Nei_, he isn't that great. He gives me a lot of trouble from time to time." _'Like right now for instance.'_

Sakura laughed and pushed a lock of coral hair behind an ear.

"Oh I bet he isn't anything you can't handle, right Iceland-san?" She gave a sly wink in his direction.

"Uh, _j-já_. Right." Damn it! Now was _not_ the time for his hormones to be taking over. He may have been over sixty years old, but age meant nothing to Emil when his body was that of a teenage boy. He could feel his cloak of composure being slowly chipped away with each one of Sakura's smiles.

"You're a good kid," Emil could feel his heart drop at her words. _'A kid…'_ "Keep it up and you'll go far in this world." He felt her hand ruffle his silver locks- much like an older sister would to do to her younger brother. He looked up to see Sakura gazing down at him fondly (though they were normally the same height, her heels made her three inches taller than Emil, much to his chagrin).

The clock on the wall chimed just then, Emil was the first to break eye contact. His violet orbs sparkled with disappointment for a split second before he looked away. He missed the probing gaze Sakura shot him as he backed away with shoulders slightly slumped in dejection.

"Ah, it's getting late. I should probably be going now." Sakura moved to collect her scattered documents.

"Here, let me help you with those." The next few minutes were filled with the rustling of paper as the two organized pages. Every so often their hands would brush together; Emil would stiffen minutely at the contact while Sakura seemed totally unfazed by it. In fact she had a somewhat contemplative air about her, almost like she was trying to learn the answer to some important secret…

'_She couldn't know about my feelings for her, could she? No that's impossible.'_ At least that's what Emil thought. This was the first time he was_ talking_ to her; she couldn't have figured him out already. But Sakura was a clever woman; he wouldn't be terribly surprised if she had seen through his act from the very beginning.

"Thank you for your assistance Iceland-san." Sakura chirped once all the papers where in a neat stack in front of her. She stuck a paper clip on the corner and gathered the bundle in the crook of an elbow.

"No problem, Miss Fire."

"Oh, no need to be so formal. You can call me Sakura if you like, would it be alright if I called Emil?"

The teen sputtered in shock. She was giving him permission to use her human name, and she wanted to use his? He couldn't believe it.

"O-of course you can Miss Fi-Sakura! I mean if you want to, but you already said you did…" _Guð_, he was making a fool out of himself.

"OK, then Emil-san." She chuckled at his flustered appearance and began to make her way to the exit. "By the way, if you not busy next week, would you like to visit me? I've heard that you like hot-springs and I know of some of excellent bath houses that you might enjoy."

"I," He went slack jawed at her request, was he dreaming? If he was then he hoped he never woke up. "I would love to. How does Saturday sound?"

"It's a date." Sakura smirked and waved before strutting away. "See you then, _Emil-kun_."

"Whoa, nice going buddy!" Mr. Puffin cried out in approval. "You got yourself pretty nice catch there, but you wouldn't have been able to land her without me. I really softened her up for you, you should be thanking me…"

The bird's words fell on deaf ears. _'A date, she asked me on a date. _Me._'_ Emil's knees felt like jelly. Emil was vaguely aware of indignant pecking on the side of his head as Mr. Puffin tried to capture his attention, but at this point, nothing short of the Apocalypse could bother him.

"Hey lover boy, are you listening?"

"Not really. Now come on, let's go home." He had a date to get ready for.

* * *

**Done. Any typos? I feel like there might be a few.**

**How were Iceland and Mr. Puffin's personalities? I tried to stick with what the Hetalia wiki gave me (Cool on the outside, but hot-blooded on the inside, and cute Italian mobster for Mr. Puffin) and used what I've seen of the two to keep them as in character as possible.**

**Translations: _Kuso- Shit; G__omen-Sorry; _T_otemo kawaii desu- So cute; __Fjandinn fuglinn- Damn bird; __Guð- God; __þegja- Shut up; __Nei- no; J__á- Yes. _  
**

**Sasu-Cakes137's Personal Headcanon- I used the fan name Emil Steilsson for Iceland, just out of personal preference. I think that since he's young-16-17 in terms of physical appearance-he would form crushes easily. Sakura in my imagination, is somewhere between 18-21 years old physically and is probably a hundred years or so older than Japan, making her about 2,700. That's a lot older than Iceland's 60ish years (as a republic), giving her _much _more experience in the love department than Iceland has. Near the end I kind of have Sakura figure out that Iceland likes her (she's a very observant person and has had more than enough time to learn the body language that comes with crushes). She thinks he's awkward and cute and decides to give him a chance by make the first move. You don't think it seems too unrealistic, do you? **

**Also, calling someone by their human name is sort of a big deal in my head. You would probably need their permission to do so and usually only close friends and lovers use them.**


End file.
